Easel hinge



1957 L. c MILLER ETQAL 2,811,741

EASEL HINGE Filed March 19, 1954 INVENT Les-ran C. Nhu. 5 JOHN M. HnmasA-r-roanev EASEL HINGE Lester C. Miller, Brookfield, and John M. Himes,New Berlin, Wis., assignors to E. R. Wagner Manufacturing Company,Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application March 19, 1954,Serial N 0. 417,346

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-191) This invention relates to improvements in hingesand particularly to hinges the leaves of which have relative angularmovement less than 90. Such hinges have as one use, the interconnectionof the support and backing of an easel-type picture frame. Whilehereinafter termed an easel hinge, such term is not to be construed aslimiting the use of the hinge herein described and claimed.

The backing of easel-type picture frames have hinged thereto a supportand the relative angular movement between backing and support is limitedby a ribbon stopper or other type of flexible member extending betweenthe board and the support. Such stoppers require hand assembly and areattached by a separate operation additional to that of hinging thesupport to the backing.

It is an object of this invention therefore to provide a strong lighthinge the leaves of which will spread to a fixed limit of less than 90of angular separation, such hinge being inexpensive to manufacture andeasy to apply to members to be hinged for such limited angular spreadingand limiting the spreading of such members without the use of stoppersor other motion limiting means additional to the hinge.

This object is obtained by a two leaf metal easel hinge which has thebarrels of each leaf curled in the same direction about a pintle. Abarrel on one leaf has a stop at its base facing the direction of thecurl of such barrel. A barrel on the other leaf has a stop spaced fromits base and facing opposite to the direction of the curl of suchbarrel. These two stops overlie each other and will inter-engage tolimit the spreading of the leaves. Rosettes formed on each leaf may besimultaneously driven into the members to be hinged and peened over in amanner well-known in this art. The hinge thus constructed embodies itsown limitation on outward swinging and hence does away with thenecessity of applying additional stopper or the like.

The characteristics and application of this invention may be bestunderstood by the following description of a specific embodiment whenread in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of an easel hinge embodying the presentinvention applied to an easel-type picture frame;

Fig. 2 is a view in top elevation of the base leaf of the hinge with thebarrel forming projections of the leaf shown partly curled;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the leaf viewed in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view in top elevation of the outer leaf of the hinge withthe barrel forming projections shown partly curled;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the leaf viewed in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view in top elevation of both leaves of the hingesuperimposed prior to the completion of the curl of the barrel formingprojections;

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation of the hinge viewed 2,811,741Patented Nov. 5,1957

ice

in Fig. 6 after the barrels have been completely curled about thepintle; V

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 8-8of Fig. 1, such sectional line being also shown on Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to the view ofFig. 8 with the leaves spread to the limit provided by stops on thebarrels thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing the easel hingeis shown secured to the backing 12 of a picture frame 10 and a support14. The support 14 is swingable from collapsed position adjacent thebacking 12 to the fully spread position (less than angular separation)shown in Fig. 1 wherein it supports the frame on a flat surface. Thishinge consists of a base or bottom leaf 16 and an outer or upper leaf 18interconnected by a pintle 28. The leaf 16 has two spaced projections 20which are curled into barrels for the pintle 23. In Fig. 2 theprojections are shown only partially curled. Each of these projectionshas a stop 22 near the base thereof which faces the outer end of theprojection or in the direction of the curl.

The outer or upper leaf 18 has two spaced projections 24 which are alsocurled into barrels for the pintle 28. Each of these projections 24 hasa stop 26 spaced from the base of the projection and facing toward suchbase or oppositely from the direction of the curl. In Fig. 4 theprojections 24 are shown partially curled. With the upper leaf 18superimposed on the bottom leaf 16 the projections 24 will fit betweenthe projections 20 and the stops 22 and 26 will be spaced from and faceeach other. While in this position the pintle 28 is placed as shown inFig. 6 and the projections 20 and 24 are curled over such pintle to formbarrels for the hinge. In order to have the two leaves fit more flush inthe collapsed position thereof, it may be necessary to offset theprojections 24 from the body of leaf 18 as is indicated at 25.

The assembled easel hinge may be easily simultaneously connected to thebacking 12 and support 14. Each of the leaves have rosettes 30 whichproject from the exposed sides. With the leaves 16 and 18 in collapsedposition such rosettes may be driven into the material of the backingmember 12 and support 14 and slightly deformed as shown in Figs. 8 and 9to tightly secure the hinge to such members.

One of the features of this invention is the rigidity and positivenessof the stops 22 and 26 in limiting the separation of the leaves to thedesired angle. Because the projections 20 and 24 are both curled in thesame direction the stops 22 when engaging the stops 26 to limit thespread, the hinges will cause such projections to curl tighter ratherthan uncurl. Consequently the barrels will remain tight and hold theleaves against further movement.

What we claim and desire to secure by this patent is:

In an easel hinge, a flat base leaf having a base facing side, a barrelintegral with said base leaf curled away from said base facing side andlying wholly inwardly of said base facing side, a stop on the side ofsaid barrel at the juncture thereof with said base leaf and facing inthe direction of said curl, a flat outer leaf having a base leaf facingside, a barrel integral with said outer leaf curled away from said baseleaf facing side, said barrel being partially offset inwardly from saidbase leaf facing side and lying partly outwardly of said base leaffacing side so that when said barrels are alined said leaves will beflat when in folded position, a stop on the side of said outer leafbarrel adjacent the free end thereof and facing in a direction oppositeto the direction of said latter curl, said stop lying within thecircumferential surface of said outer leaf barrel and spaced from saidfirst mentioned stop an angular distance of less than 90 in the foldedcondition of said leaves so that said leaves will flatly engage inclosed position and swing to extended position less than 90 apart, and apintle inserted in said barrels to hold said leaves together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS838,832 Woodbury Dec. 18, 1906 4 Bittorf May 15, 1934 Howe Jan. 14, 1941Whitman et al. H Feb. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS France July 25, 1951

